THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 29, 1995 TAG: 9508290004
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 34 lines
Virginia's get-tough policy toward criminals has been much ballyhooed, but in at least one case it might have been carried too far.
After a Virginia inmate turned in his artificial leg to be adjusted to better fit his stump, the leg, less than a year old, disappeared.
The inmate, Morton R. Setliff, now at Greensville Correctional Center, naturally asked for his leg back. Prison officials told him they couldn't find it.
For nine months it was missing, until a Richmond Times-Dispatch reporter asked prison officials recently what might have become of it.
Then it was found at the Powhatan Corrections Center.
The prosthesis cost $3,200, Setliff said, and until it was located, he feared hat he would be charged part of the replacement cost. Under a tougher medical policy that took effect July 1, inmates must pay half the cost of any prosthetic device, though no more than $300. Setliff said he makes about $2.30 a week.
There are crimes for which a prisoner should pay an arm and a leg. But when a Virginia inmate turns in a leg to be adjusted, it should be returned in less than nine months. by CNB